


The Hunting Trip

by The_Hidden_Boots (Captain_Tomate)



Category: PBG Hardcore series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Blood and Injury, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-16 21:35:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13644888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captain_Tomate/pseuds/The_Hidden_Boots
Summary: Dean is a half-werewolf trying to connect to where his mom came from. Little does he know that he'll become much closer to nature than he expected.





	The Hunting Trip

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Twilight_Joltik](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twilight_Joltik/gifts).



> Happy birthday Joltik!! Hopefully you like this, because I want my present make you happy!
> 
> Uh, small warning about the mentions of guns/blood/injuries, but it's nothing graphic.

Dean wouldn't say he _enjoyed_ hunting. It was something he had to do to survive, and being half werewolf meant a big, carnivorous appetite. He couldn't hunt with claws and fangs like his mom, so he settled for old fashioned human tools and voila, time for dinner. He was just glad he didn't have to take multiple hikes daily to and from the forest.

 

Living out in this little cabin was something his mom had instructed: get closer to the nature her people came from and become more comfortable with his roots. It wasn't easy now, with the large ban on magic going through every town and shifters still getting a bad deal on what land they could still be on… Well, he was lucky this land legally belonged to his family still.

 

Dean filled up his bag with essentials: extra bullets, a few hunting knives, and a book on what berries were poisonous or not. Then he locked his cabin up and headed out to the rest of the forest. Deer would be abundant around this time of year, so he wanted to get a good sized one so he wouldn't have to do this again for a while. The loud noise of the gun made both him and the forest bristling with anxiousness.

 

As soon as he arrived at his usual spot, ducking down to hide, there was a flash of the familiar brown fur of a deer peeking through the foliage. Probably distracted by food. Just as he was lining up a shot, there was a loud sound of a twig cracking, startling both him and the deer.

 

He accidentally shot as the deer darted, hitting its flank, and instead of an animal's groan of pain there was a high-pitched shriek. One that sounded scarily like a person.

 

Shit. Shit shit shit-

 

Dean dropped his stuff and ran after the… whatever it was, hoping he hadn't hurt it too badly. The trail of blood was only small splatters, so that was good, right? He probably hadn't hit anything important! Yeah… He really didn't want anyone to be hurt-

 

A soft whimper came from a big pile of leaves - or a clump of bushes, Dean wasn't sure - and the half-wolf approached them slowly and carefully. He pushed the leaves away and found himself face-to-face with the prettiest creature in the world…

 

Faun were a rare species nowadays. Many of them had been replaced with more “original” centaurs: usually domesticated or wild horses, the odd zebra or two. Fauns were usually centaurs with different equines taking on the role of their lower half, and Deer Faun were treasured for two things: their beauty and elusiveness. Dean couldn't blame them, there were a lot of horror stories of hunters kidnapping Fauns to marry them.

 

The Deer Faun bleated, staring up at Dean with big, terrified eyes filled with tears. He struggled to get the deer half of himself up again, front legs shaking under the strain until they collapsed again. Dean came a bit closer, holding his hands out to seem calming to the young deer, even though he was shaking himself.

 

“Shhh… You'll be okay. Let me look, alright?” He whispered, kneeling down beside the frightened creature, and assessed the damage. It looked like just a scrape, no lodged bullet or anything, maybe just deep enough to go bad if it was infected… He calmingly told the Deer as much, starting to stroke his furry back.

 

He (at least, Dean guessed they were a he, from the small antlers on their head) had stopped his scared bleating to just stare at Dean as he went to go get the little thing of medical supplies he had also packed. He barely even flinched at the antiseptic, and let Dean wrap up his leg in bandages.

 

“There… You're okay now…” Dean said, wondering in a Faun would take kindly to painkillers, before ultimately deciding against it. The Faun had an easier time getting to his feet this time, and Dean turned away to get his supplies from where he dropped them. He'd probably stick to berries today, or maybe he could find a pig or something…

 

There was a sound of crunching leaves behind him, and Dean turned to see the Faun looking at him expectedly, ears perked and nub tail wagging. Dean just blink at him, weren't deer afraid of hunters? Why was this one following him?

 

He couldn't shake the Deer away, so he resigned to his fate of being followed and just went back home. Maybe he'd leave after he got the door closed on him or something?

 

Spoiler alert: He didn't.

* * *

 

Dean quickly found both an advantage and disadvantage to helping a Faun. Advantage was that he now had a buddy that followed him around and shoved him away from poison berries. Disadvantage was that this one was a bit more clumsy and scared off any pigs he found with misplaced hooves stepping on sticks.

 

Ray (Dean had eventually decided he couldn't just keep calling him “the Faun,”) also got anxious when left alone outside of the cabin, stomping his hooves and snorting. Dean hadn't expected the one he shot to want to snuggle up to him forever, but that's what was happening, and he had decided he couldn't leave him outside forever. So now there was a messy nest of blankets under leaves and grass in the living room/kitchen/dining room area for Ray to sleep.

 

A new schedule started after that. Ray started off grooming Dean’s hair until Dean woke up more, they went out to go find some kind of food, before going back home to eat and Ray napped with his head on Dean's lap afterwards.

 

And Dean started to try to teach the Faun how to talk about after a week or so. The only communication they had was Ray's little deer sounds (the only human thing he could do was scream) and pointing, so that wasn't a great system. They had their regular lessons, every word pronounced right got Ray a few blackberries, his favorite treat. Soon he was talking like a clumsy child. It was kind of adorable.

 

“Dean! Teach?” Ray bit Dean's shirt and tugged, bouncing up and down a little on his hooves, “Teach!”

 

Dean rubbed his eyes, “Okay, Ray, okay… Lemme get the book.” Ray's little stub of a tail wagged and he bounded out the the living room. They had gotten through a chapter or two of the book already - Ray liked repeating words and asking the meaning - so Dean never argued with what Ray wanted. It wasn't a broken teaching method so why fix it?

 

Ray had hopped on the couch, leaving some room for Dean to sit down in the hollow spot between his legs. Dean had chosen a book his moms had read to him when he was younger to get him to sleep, and it still held up. Judging from Ray's approval of it, at least.

 

“‘The rogue grabbed her prince's hand, deciding it was now or never to proclaim her love.’”

 

“Lo-ve?” Ray repeated with a tiny snort, tilting his head.

 

Dean nodded, “Love. It's when you appreciate someone a lot, or have a lot of affection for them.”

 

“L-Love…” Ray frowned to himself, before perking up. He pointed to himself, then pointed to Dean, “Ray l-love Dean!”

 

“Huh?” Dean blushed, caught off guard by Ray's sudden exclamation. Ray seemed pretty excited though, repeating it over and over as he jumped up, trotting around. Why… Why was he so excited?

 

Ray was even closer after that, staying curled up to Dean, sticking close to his side, threatening any tiny, non-threatening woodland bunny to leave Dean's tiny garden alone as he worked on it. Dean didn't understand this behavior until he decided to consult an old Guide to Mythical Creatures book.

 

Apparently he had helped Ray right in the middle of the season when Fauns choose mates, and Ray was just the right age to start _wanting_ a mate. Who was now Dean. Because he had given Ray the “gift” of bandages.

 

Oops.

* * *

 

Dean… Would not argue that he was not in love with Ray. He had grown very fond of the Faun in the time they had spent together. His only problem was that Fauns, due to the usual scarcity/elusiveness of others of their kind, mated for life. Dean didn't want to take the chance of having a good, actually-a-Faun mate from Ray! But Ray wouldn't go out and check, or call out for a mate, or anything.

 

Dean… Was kind of happy that was the case. It was selfish, but he wanted Ray all to himself. Could you blame him? He was adorable, relied on him, and Dean was very attached by now.

 

“Ray? Don't you want a mate?” He decided to ask. “Someone to have little Faun babies with or something? Because my body would be pretty shit at trying to have kids.”

 

Ray snorted, fidgeting with his glasses. Apparently he hadn't been able to see very well before, and relied mostly on smell, that's why he had been clumsy. “Dean, yo-ur my mate. No kids.”

 

“No kids? You don't want kids?” Dean tilted his head - a habit that had come from Ray.

 

Ray nodded and nuzzled him, kissing his neck, and ended up curled around him, “No kids. Just Dean.”

 

Dean smiled, trying not to tear up. Ray just wanted him… He kissed his Faun on the lips, making him make a small noise of surprise. Before he gradually relaxed into the embrace.

  
Okay, maybe Dean _liked_ some parts of hunting.


End file.
